Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1887-04-27
CHINESE JUSTICE.
How Red-Handed Criminals Are
Dealt With In the Far East
The stoildity of Asistics In tho Preseocs a
Death - Accom- IN odating Substitutes
Who Sell Their Livcs for Fifty
Dollars, More or Less
rSan Francisco CALI

condemned culprit to wait The Chinese,
even after they have had q full opportunt
ty of observing and admiring our Amer
lean methods Of administering Justice
must after all, turn to their old country
forms as the most decided and satisfnc.
tory, and satisfactory not only a. regaraa
the punishment of crime, but perhApA -
the criminal himself
The Chinese method Of procedure q
this: No special detective or posse are -
Qulred TO arrest the culprlt II he 10 MOI
secured red-handed by the ncighbors q
bystanders, the friends, relatives or elan
of the victim may be relied upon TO bring
the slayer along. He Is hauled strsighs
into the presence Of the nearest magis
trato and the case disposed Of there and
then. Sentence is passed at that identical
sitting, without any postponements, and
the only delay is while it has to be rats
fed from tho Board of Punishments at ths
Tsungli- -Yamen. This tribunal requires 3
syllabus of the case as q matter Of form
but almost invariably and on principle m
dorses the verdict Of the magistrate Ne
counsel are employed, and the cuiprii
makes no appeal, nor does he have an ep
portunity Of challenging the jury, becauss
his fate is in the hands OF one man, and
though, sometimes tas in the most civilised
countries, too), money will turn aside The
sword of justice, it then only remains fos
the murdered mans faction TO SOC th<
issue out-lynch law and Its insmunitsst
being recognized in China, too.
An ordinary decapitation may b
described as follows: The death
order has arrived from Peking, and
the condemned Is given a. few hours
Of preparation as possible before sun
down Of the same day. Like our Westcru
institution, he is allowed as good o meal
as he likes to take, and what is moro do
Sirable still. enough ricc-di istiled spiris -
almost stupefy him. Then he Is stripped
to the waist, his hands tied behind his
back and marched of TO the sccne Of ere
CATION Perhaps several other eases hsvt
been dealt with in the same dispatch from
the Boo I'd Of Punishment, and then there
is batch to be disposed of, which maix6s
it less desirable, as affecting the csty edtA
or's department Of the local press; but
the public are treated TO one great oolfoS
tion of portraits, biography and incident,
and then the Chinese paterfamiliss hes M
need to keep a continuance Of detail from
the reading Of his family.
The execution ground is usually q square
of some quarter of q mile on every ssdo,
with Yamen or grand stand at its norto-
ern end for the accommodation OF the
OElCeTS Oh Luo snow. In the CpOD
ground in front Of tho dais Of the chair,
man Of the proceedings is small sandod
patch where the butchery is performed.
The public are freely invited, and patroo,
ize the entertainment in such numbcrs
that, unlike here, there is very little that q
few favored chroniclers can tell Of t tha4
would come under tho heading Of ncwe
The culprits kneel in little group at tou
side Of The sand patch, under charge Of Q
few soldiers, invariably exhibittus
that stolid indifference md lack a
emotional fear which has oecu
so often commented on Of Chinese
executions. There are no addresses IA
the crowd7or cries of mercy or faintang
away. nor any of those scaffold-sceno dem.
onstrations which our reporters 90 love
to rcvel in. Tho same sort Of thing has
been going on for thousands of years IN
China, so that conventionahty has taught
the sufferer how to behave. Perhaps No.
will wince when he sees No. rs head
roll in the sand, but he will step MP aud
knecl down on the bloody spot with sang
froid.
The exccutiepor, o big, burly fefiow
with two-handed sword, waits nod on
exclamation from tho chairman. an u tho
blow that follows is usually cn6agh.
While the signal is waiting an assistant
has pulled up the condemned's bound
arms from his back so as to force Tho
neck and head out In position fus
the stroke, and when It has fallen the
trunk is allowed to fall forward length
wise the head is removed in q basket 70 ba
exhibited somewhere In the vicinity Of tS1s
committal of the crime, and the body, when
dragged off to the side, is either left on the
ground to be dcvoured by beast or bird ov
handed over to the friends. But this u q
matter for peculiarly arrangement with
the presiding authorities and matters noE
much either one way or the other " ther1
is not somc chance Of eventually obtaining
the head. The Canton execution grounds
is Uttered with human bones and the city
dogs often gather thore; but In SooclsoW
and mid-ChinG this extremity is not much
in vogue.
There is ono peculiar and almost ksss
credible thing which will give fair idsa
Of how the Chinese regard the death
penalty, and serving to show what q
human life is there valued at II 10 an
actual fact that in somc cases substttu,
tion can be instituted, and in such cases 8
substitute can be readily found. Moaoy
will secure almost any thing IN this en-
lightened country, but we have yet 70 heas
OF one who can be paid for execution by
proxy. Money here will make mon risk
almost certain death, but IL 10 TO be doube-
ed whether Vanderbilt had millions
enough to secure q man TO stand for hang.
ing in cold blood. Any one acquainted
with the ways and customs OF China will,
however, testify that fifty dollars win ss
any time, and in numbers, secure mon %
step up beneath tho executioner's sword
and die. An explanation can only ba
given in considering tho perfcoS
development of the petriarchal
System in China; eevolop-
ment which makes 1t possible for family
or clan 70 persuade ono Of its number ef
the perfect advisability or Legitimacy q
his laying down his minute and valueicss
life for the benefit Of any thing that may
accrue to the surviving strugglers- II h o
tremendous and inexplicablc theory for IN
to grapp'e with. trespassing, % IL docs, ON
the foundation of all our civilization We
would shudder. at it in the abstract, tust as
we shirk, with our niceties, oil the terrible
sides OF tho struggle for existence. But
the Chinamsn, toned down by four thou
sand years Of existence, looks all the
of-fact eye on the value Of human hesh
and blood as when condemned to tsipo hia
last turn on the sanded patch
Touching Devotion OF q Cat Who Had Loss
Family OF KIetens-
chambers Journal
AS an illustration Of maternal devotion,
the ensuing fact was contributed by reiar
tive A little girl had set her heart On
capturinO n wild kitten which rCsolutefy